Amongst Kami [神] and Tengri
A Preliminary Investigation into Japanese and Turkic Religiosities
Keywords:
Asia, Culture, Mythology, Religion, Sacred, Spirituality, SupernaturalAbstract
In this article, it is aimed to make a comparative investigation between Shinto and Tengrism, to see if there is a historical similarity or a cultural link between them. The scope here is determined with a focus on two elements: (I) experience of sacredness and (II) notion of supernaturality of nature. Throughout the article, first, a framework which deals with a mythic sense of thinking is constructed around the concepts of hierophany and monomyth. Then it is continued to present some similar elements between Japanese and Turkic cultures which help deepening the investigation. With various linguistic, socio-cultural and historical similarities in these two seemingly separate semiospheres, it is aimed to find a viable path that will direct the investigation towards a resourceful and insightful comprehension regarding religiosities of Japanese and Turkic people. These two religiosities (Shinto and Tengrism) are not handled through religious essentialism or ideological fundamentalism, but rather through historical and cultural research which aims to surface possible parallels between them without taking these parallels at face value. After this, some of the problems these similarities have are laid down in further details, since one of the aims is to eliminate the similarities which are too general or too superficial, meaning not particular enough and exclusive only for Shinto and Tengrism. After dealing with these problems, some cultural observations which would enable the article to go further in its investigation are shared for further possible considerations [...]
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